Rattlers stymied in loss to Trojans
Sometimes, it’s as simple as one team not putting the ball in the basket.
The Medicine Hat College Rattlers women’s basketball team certainly had other reasons to explain Friday’s 65-53 loss to the SAIT Trojans, but couldn’t deny that one basic premise.
If they’re to clinch a playoff spot, they can’t keep missing the easy buckets.
“Our offence was very stagnant in the first half,” said guard Megan Getz, who nonetheless finished with a team-high 15 points. “I missed three layups in the first quarter. In the key, our percentage was low.”
It was 36-18 at the half for SAIT, which guaranteed a third-place finish in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference South Division with the win. The Trojans are now 12-6, while Medicine Hat slipped out of the last playoff spot to 8-10. They still have two games and the tiebreaker on 9-11 Red Deer, which beat last-place Ambrose Friday.
Perhaps the real question going into Saturday’s rematch in Calgary is whether Medicine Hat has the right mindset.
“I think there’s urgency, but there’s a lack of trust in ourselves sometimes,” said Getz. “We want it, but we need to believe. That’s going to be the biggest thing.”
Rattlers head coach Clayton Nielsen knows his team has the skill to hang with SAIT, and they did win the second half Friday in front of a home crowd buoyed by some minor basketball teams. They cut the lead to 10 but it was too late.
“You cannot beat a team by scoring 18 points in a half,” said Nielsen, whose club finishes the regular season against Ambrose next week. “We’ve got to get up and be solid the rest of the way. We’ve got to decide early that’s the way we want to play.”
Alicia Tan and Melissa Woolley each had 17 for SAIT, which shot poorly in the second half after a lights-out first. Kennedy Werre was Medicine Hat’s other double-digit scorer, netting 11 to go with 18 rebounds.
Later, the Rattlers men’s squad picked up a 76-56 victory over SAIT to improve to 15-3.
Guilhereme Fuck had a gamehigh 16 points and added eight rebounds while Jordan Wynter had a double-double with 12 points and 13 boards.
Volleyball
The Medicine Hat College Rattlers women’s volleyball team is going out with a bang.
While they’ve been eliminated from post-season contention, the Rattlers picked up their second win in four matches Friday in Lethbridge against the Kodiaks, 2523, 18-25, 25-13, 24-26, 15-9.
The Rattlers, now 3-20, close out their season Saturday at home against the Kodiaks at 6 p.m.
The men’s Rattlers volleyball team bounced back from last Saturday’s loss to the Red Deer Kings with a resounding four-set win over the Lethbridge Kodiaks, 25-21, 25-21, 27-29, 25-19. Medicine Hat’s Alfred Dalevik led the way with 23 kills, while Lethbridge’s Brandon Quach had 24.
The victory puts the Rattlers at 19-3 on the ACAC season, and another win Saturday would guarantee a top berth entering playoffs.